Collapsible playhouse



y 3- w. E. BOWERSOCK Er AL 1,918,375.

COLLAPSIBLE PLAYHOUSE- Filed April 25, 19229 2 Sheets-Sheet Q5.JNVENTORS fl ZZZGKEBOZJQ'SO /zmggpi7Mer y 18, 1933- w. E. BowERsocK ElAL 1,913,375

COLLAPSIBLE PLAYHOUSE Filed April 25', 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flair ATTORY "as embodiment ofthe nvention, showing-1t 1n,

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g coLnnrsnann, rLAynousn it n ppli c a't'ion fi 1ed hprili25,

This invention relatesflto structure capaf ble of being-erected into aplayhouse of sub:

stantia'l dimensions and adapted to be collap'sed into a compact articlefor purposes oftransportation or'storing. An'object of the invention isthe provision; of an artlcle ofthis character which'is generallyimproved and more satisfactory than similar articlesheretofore known vAnother object of the invention the provision of a structure which islight and easy to handle, which may be assembled or erected easily andquickly evenby inexperienced persons such :as children which Whenerectedis held securely against accidental collapse, be easily collapsed when Afurther object of the inventionuis'the provision of a collapsibleplayhouse so designed and constructed that it may be built of fairlylarge dimensions, for example,

large enough so that children may actually enter and play within the-playhouse,- and a yet which when collapsed Willbe light and compact andeasy to transport orto store. I

To these and other :ends the inventionresides in certain improvementsand 00111191113- tions of parts; all as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, the novel 1 features being pointed outin the claims at theend specification. j n p In the drawings:

Fig; 1 is a perspective vie yv'of aplayhouse" constructed in accordancewith a vpreferred erected pbsitioh;

Fig. 2 i a vertical cross section taken trans-. versely th'rough theerecteclplayhou'se;

of the playhouse and partially -c'ollapsed,f

d" Y i l, I t- Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the 'playhouse inits erected position.

192a. SeriaINoQSBSJMI by V? i I refij'n e numerals throughout v' i Iseveral vievvsindicate the salneparts; a

y a 7 Referring now especially toiFig-s'. 1

constructed in accordance v with [the present l p 21111616 of thedrawings the collapsible playhouse invention comprises a Wall strueturehaving;

v'vhat might'be termed end Wallsorwa1lpQn ma 10 and side Walls ,orlflwall' ortidns 11. 1 These Walls", and also ,the roof member and floormember, preferably constructed-of corrugated board; or simi1ar;.'light,"fa ir1y to each other at points S iff easilyvvorkableirnaterial, alth cu l i 7 it is contemplaedthat other imaterialsmay 5, s f sp lding. was,

corners fthe house; the connections pref-1 erably .belng formedtbystrips- 12 of paperor the like which form hinges, so that the walls o mb f a fl' r n' d te -1 ot -f 11 aclditlon to the hinged. joints at kthecorners vi'decl with ver t ical oints at.- intermediate I points;,the'se joints preferably being. formed b the i c el n t t h i dtpoin ofhe side walls. *These:ficoreflines; Weaken: the

of theg mmtme, the side vval1s11are pro- 1 materi-alsothat ahingei'sfformed,permitting the two portions of doubled backupo'n each other;

edythewal-ls are' in plosition to form a rectan gular structure suc asis shown in: Figs,l1

tom for. the structure, but also tov hold the each sidegwall -11 to be aWhen the playhousefis assembled erect 6 i I andGs A floorinember such asis showniini a Fig.3 ma be useclnotonly to provide abbotp i a dental'collapse thereof. This oor member I comprises a flat member15 having ascore line 16 substantially dow n -thf nter, thereof to form a joint sothat thegfloorsmember maybe fpldednpfi The floorjrnember 'alsoihasscorelines 17 forming jointsgto permit v,

portions 18 of the member f0 be bent upWard-f 1 Vllhen theplayhouseiis'assern led, the floor member is placed Withinjthe walls so that itextend upwardly a short distance along I r W inner surfaces of theWa11s',.in the manner.

illustrated clearly in Fig. 2. These marginal portions 18 formsubstantial bearing areas in contact with the side walls 11 of thebuilding. The presence of the score line or joint 16 in the floor membernot only permits this floor member to be'folded up when the house iscollapsed so that it occupies a substantially less areathan theareaof'the housewhen erected, but furthermore is of advantageiinfacilitating the easy insertion of the floor memberwhen'the houseisbeing assembled;

Thefloor member may be slightly bent at this jointwhile it is being putwithin the walls, so as to decreasethe width of-the floor member. It maythen be flattened out by pressing downwardly uponthe centerofthe fioorafter the edges have been properly position ed at the bottoms of theside wallsll, and this will producea sort of toggle action, forcing theedges of the floor tightly against the-walls so that some tension isplaced upon the Walls and theyiare held firmly in position. Obviously,the presence ofthefloor member prevents accidental collapse of thestructure.

Gable portions 20 are provided at the tops of the end'walls 10 of thehouse, these gable portions preferablybeing formed integrally with theend walls 10 and hinged bymeans of v score lines 21 so that they may befolded down against the end walls when the building is collapsed. A roofmember 22' is formed preferablyof one integral piece scored cen-' trallyat 23 at'the' ridge of the roof so that it may be bent to fit. over thegable portions 20 and to form an A-roof as shown in Figs.

} 1 and2. The roof, whenin position, acts to hold th'e gable members 20against accidental collapse. This be accomplished by pro-f vidingmembers such as the pins '24 passing 'throughthe roof and'intothe gablemembers 20,.thus pinningthegable members and roof securely together. I

A door is provided in'one of the end walls 10, being formed 'by slits 31at the top and one side'of the door,jand a soOreline I 32 along theotherside to provide a hinge rthe door.' I

'A plurality of windows isalso provided, thewindow openings preferablynot being completely c'ut'out but being formed by,

, means of top and bottomslits'35, a vertical.

s'lit f'36 'and scorelines 37 providing hinged jointsso that shuttersare formed which may i be opened eitherjinwardly'or outwardly to openthe windows, or which may be closed into the plane ofthe wall to'clo'sethe window; openings completely.

i Tocollapse the playhouse, the pins 24L holding theroof'i22 to thegables' 20' a'refirst' removed, so that the :roof maybe taken, off andfolded up to occupy, a comparatively small space. It" is shown partiallyfolded" in Fig. 5, but"the free edgesare slightly separated in thisfigure toillustra te'th'e construe tion' more clearly.

After the roof is'removed,the fioor 15 may be taken out and folded'up inthe. same way that the'roof was folded, the marginal por- Y tions 18being turned down so that they lie substantially "in i a plane. vjTh'e;removal of the floormember allows the walls tofbe col: lapsed. This isdone by inovingthe central portions of the side walls 11 inwardly towardeach other so that these walls bend at the score lines. 13, the endWalls' 10 Inoving straight toward each other and remainingsubstantiallyparallel to each other. Fig; 4' illustrates the wallstructure partially collapsed,'and showswhat a small space it occupiesin comparison to the space ofthe erect ed house- Before or afterthewalls are collapsed, the'gable portions L0 may be folded down so as totionslO.

and the roof member-each'fold up substantially into a plane having; a"comparatively small area, it will be seen that the playhouse whencollapsed is extremely compact, and

may be easilytransported or stored notwithlie against the'end wall porvSince the wall structure, the'floor'men'iber standing that the playhousemaybe of large enough. dimensions when erected so that child n mayplay inside ,it.

\Vhile one embodiment -WVe claim as our invention: v

1. A collapsible playhouse comprising end 1 wall and side wall portionshinged to each other at points corresponding to the corners of-the houseand-arranged to be erectedintoa rectangular Wall structure, saidside-Wall portions having substantially ver tioa'l oints so that saidwall structure may be collapsed by doubling said side wallsuponthemselves and by moving the end walls toward each other, acollapsible floor member arranged to fit within said wall structure.when it iszin erected position-and acting to holdthe; walls in suchpositionand prevent collapsing there of, said fioormember having anintermediate 'joint sothat when the floor member is r,e-.

moved to permit-the house to be 'collapsed 'the floor inemberniay befolded to occupy a substantially smaller area than the area of thehousewhen erected," gable portionshinged to the upper edges of said endwall portions and arranged'to extend upwardly therefrom when the houseis erected or to be Folded 7 down against said end wall I portions whenthe. houseis collapsed, and a roof'member-arf-I gable portions meanranged to hold said erected position.

g of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that 2. Acollapsible playhouse compri'sing end wall and side wall portions hingedto each other at points corresponding to the corners, of the house andarranged to be erectedin'to a rectangular wall structure, said side wallportions having substantially vertical joints intermediate the endsthereof so that said wall'structure may be collapsed by doubling saidside walls upon themselvesand by moving the end walls toward each other,windows in certain of said Walls formed by slits and score lines placedso as to provide hinged the erected position and acting to hold the fitwithin said wallstruc-ture when it is in walls in such positionandpreventing col:

lapse,'said floor member comprising a central portion coveringsubstantially the entire area enclosed by said wall structure whenerected,

and marginal portions hinged to opposite edges of sa d central portionand arranged to extend upwardly along the inner surfaces Y of oppositewallsof the playhouse, said cenposition.

permit the house to be collapsed 'the floor' member may befoldedtooccupy a substantially smaller area than the area of the house'tralportionhaving an intermediate joint so that when the floor member isre'moved-lto when. erected and so that whenthe house is 7.

erected the floor member may beinserted'in f; a partially foldedconditionwith two edges on the supporting surface on which the "houserests and the central portion may'thenbe depressed into contact withsuch surface in order to-expand the walls fully by a toggle a v1 1 'raction, gable' portions hinged to the upper edges of said endwallportions and arranged a to extend upwardly therefrom when the houseis erected or, to be foldeddown againstfsaid end wall portions when thehouse iscollapsed, v a roofmember fitting said gable portionsgintheextended position of the lattergand a" I a s5; member to holdsaidgable portions inupright e f a a WILBER E. 'BoWE-Rso'oKf HOWARD M;FANGHER.

plurality of pins passing through said roof:

I 1 9. I i

